General Mills, Inc.

B.r.a.i.n. Biotechnology Research and Information Network Ag

Andreas Hochheimer

Michael Krohn

Bernhard H Van Lengerich

Christine M Nowakowski

Joachim Hans

Lars Ole Haustedt

Karsten Siems

Olaf Gruess

Jens-Peter Muller

Suzanne Denise Pecore

Candace Michelle Rathjen-Nowak

Lia Scarabottolo

Torsten Ertongur-Fauth

Micheal Krohn

Berhard H Van Lengerich

Naturally-derived compounds having various structures elicit the perception of salty taste or enhance the perception of salty taste of a salt. Food products may include such salty compounds, which may be used to reduce the sodium content, while parting a similar level of saltiness.

Reduced sodium food products

Naturally-derived compounds having various structures elicit the perception of salty taste, enhance the perception of salty taste of a salt, or act at one or more sodium channels. Food products may include such naturally-derived compounds, which may be used to reduce the sodium content, while imparting a similar level of saltiness.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein capable of forming a calcium-activated chloride channel, wherein said nucleic acid molecule comprises or consists of (a) a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1; (b) a nucleic acid molecule having the DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:2; (c) a nucleic acid molecule having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein each thymine is replaced by uracil; (d) a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes under stringent conditions to the complementary strand of a nucleic acid molecule of (a), (b) or (c); (e) a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having at least 97% sequence identity to the protein of (a); or (f) a nucleic acid molecule that is degenerate with respect to the nucleic acid molecule of (b), (c) or (d). The present invention further relates to a protein capable of forming a calcium-activated chloride channel, the use of the nucleic acid molecule of or the protein of the invention for identifying an inhibitor of sweat formation as well as an in vitro method of identifying an inhibitor of sweat formation.

Calcium-activated chloride channel involved in human sweat formation

The present invention relates to proliferating human taste cells, wherein the cells are the cells deposited under the DSMZ deposit accession number DSM ACC3169 or taste cells derived thereof. The present invention further relates to the proliferating human taste cells of the invention for use in research. Further, the present invention relates to in vitro methods for analyzing the signalling response of taste cells to a molecule involved in taste signalling, in vitro methods of identifying agents capable of eliciting a taste response in taste cells as well as in vitro methods of identifying modulators of taste signalling.

Human taste cells capable of continuous proliferation

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Wuppertal, Germany

Andreas Hochheimer